This photograph of the Victor Goddard RAF Squadron and its support staff, was taken not long after the end of World War I. It was captured just a few days before the squadron was disbanded. Everyone was present, except for air mechanic Freddy Jackson, who had died a few days earlier when he walked into a propeller.

The photo has captured the image of a young man (minus a hat) who was recognised as the dead mechanic. Did Freddy decide to appear in one last photo with his friends and comrades?

Death of an Air Mechanic

Victor Goddard's RAF Squadron.

This photo was taken at the Air Transport Yard in Cromwell, Lincolnshire, England. The men and women who make up the group seen in the picture are the air/ground crew and support staff who worked the yards and Victor Goddards RAF Squadron. A few weeks earlier the hostilities of World War One had ceased and as such the crew and support personnel were to be largely disbanded. One last photo of friends and comrades was taken as a lasting memento of everyone's time together. However the occasion was marred by the absence of one air mechanic, Freddy Jackson, who had died only a few days earlier. Freddy had not been killed in combat or by the enemy at all but had died on the airfield when he walked into a propeller.

The Ghostly Photo

Is the face behind this man that of Freddy Jackson?

Bobby Capels, a young woman at the time providing delivery of dispatches remembers the day well. Everyone had spent a long number of years together working the air transport yards and seeing as it was the end of the war and everyone was soon to be departing the photo was very much called for. Everyone had lined up in front of the sheds and the photo was taken. This was either 1918 or 1919, she can not fully remember. However she remembers the shock everyone felt when they received their copies. In the back row, behind one of the pilots, was an extra half obscured face. Although she did not know Freddy very well she could easily recognise his face, as could many of the other personnel. How could they not as he was only killed a few days earlier and his memorial service/funeral had been the very morning the photograph was taken! The ghostly image does not appear to be wearing a hat or cap where as everyone else in the photograph is. The photo was first published in 1975. It is nice to think that Freddy Jackson may have been able to make it into the photo. Had he been alive there is no doubt he would have been present. Is it possible that even in death Freddy was able to make it into one last group photo?

Another explanation is that the pilot in the photograph had moved during the exposure, creating a ghostly double of himself. People have argued against this saying that if that was the case both heads should be wearing a cap - only one is. (apologies for the low resolution of the group photo)

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